Southampton Fan View: Chelsea defeat embodies how Pellegrino is content with mediocrity

Southampton’s 1-0 defeat against Chelsea on Saturday somewhat flattered them, with Mauricio Pellegrino once again seeing his uninspiring tactical calls backfire.

Marcos Alonso’s goal was enough to hand the Blues a big three points, yet it was Saints who flattered to deceive once again, as they posed little urgency nor threat to a Chelsea side that didn’t even get out of second gear.

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Mauricio Pellegrino has made some rather bemusing tactical decisions throughout the first half of the campaign and this was the case against Chelsea. As expected, he reverted to a formation with three central defenders, yet opted to bench Saints’ best centre-back.

Although Virgil van Dijk’s focus and work rate haven’t quite been up to scratch in recent weeks, he remains a supremely talented player and would have been out to impress against Chelsea, who could be potential suitors for the Dutchman come January.

Truth be told, Saints’ bench against Chelsea entailed some shoo-ins for the starting line-up. Charlie Austin is in good form, yet was benched. Mario Lemina is Saints’ best midfielder and was benched, perhaps down to his ankle knock. Sofiane Boufal is one of the Saints’ only players who can create something out of nothing, and yet he was overlooked in a game which would have, in hindsight, required a moment of magic to salvage something from.

It wasn’t the team selection that angered most, though, but the approach Saints took to the game. Teams seldom go to Stamford Bridge and dominate possession, creating chance after chance. However, there was little effort to even try to cut Chelsea open, allowing them to remain in second gear for the duration of the match and comfortably sit on their lead.

Saints mustered up only one genuine chance in the match, through substitute Charlie Austin in the second-half. There was a clear lack of service for the strikers, as we have seen over the last 18 months, and there was a distinct shortage of urgency from Saints to take the game to Chelsea after going a goal down.

It’s easy to say that Pellegrino’s men battled hard, but there was no positive alteration to the way in which they approached the game. Pellegrino, quite nonsensically, took off Manolo Gabbiadini for Charlie Austin. The latter absolutely had to be introduced in order for Saints to try and reduce the deficit, but not at the expense of another striker. It was a like-for-like change at 1-0 down – it was negative.

There is a clear pattern emerging with Pellegrino, one which smacks of contentment of mediocrity. It was as though he saw a 1-0 defeat at Chelsea as a decent result. There is never a great deal of risk, nor of desire with Pellegrino, who is overseeing his side sleepwalking into the depths of the Premier League table.

Simply “battling” in a game isn’t enough. That should be the minimum expectation and requirement of a football team at any level. To compete is not an achievement, but a necessity. Saints were beaten to most second balls and were outmanoeuvred by a rather unimpressive Chelsea side.

Now, with the club only three points above the drop zone, a must-win game against Huddersfield awaits. A win is absolutely imperative, otherwise it could, and absolutely should, be curtains for Mauricio Pellegrino.